Epsilon Prime by day. You can see your rover's tracks and often its shadow. Among other things... (click to enlarge)
Screenshot by Kelsey Adams/CNET

If you haven't played Lazy 8 Studios' award-winning Extrasolar, a deceptively simple planetary exploration game, now's a great time to start. It only takes a few minutes a day, it's browser-based and free (though you can pay to speed up your moves), and a Kickstarter to support Season 2 just went live today. Brb pledging...

So here's the idea. A rich private researcher has funded the Exoplanetary Research Institute -- XRI -- and developed technology that's made possible an unmanned flight to a recently discovered faraway planet, Epsilon Prime. They've dropped a bunch of rovers onto the surface so we can find out what's down there. Is there any sign of life? Possibly even visible life? How would a completely alien biology work?

You're a volunteer citizen scientist remote-controlling one of these rovers and exploring an island with varied terrain. The moves themselves are simple: you drag crosshairs on the map (which is actually made from "satellite photos" of the planet) to schedule rover stops.

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If you're wondering whether there might be more to the story -- how did we develop this space travel technology so quickly? Does XRI have a hidden agenda? Are we sure this planet's unoccupied? -- you're thinking along the right lines. In parallel to the pursuit of scientific discovery, you'll also be unraveling a story of the kind of conspiracy and ruthlessness to be expected in a case of government funding.

Updates come in the form of emails, recorded video calls, and "encrypted documents" in your game inbox. (This is all in the game's browser interface -- though Extrasolar mimics an ARG in form, you won't actually be sifting these messages out of your real-life email and voice mail.)

Screenshot by Kelsey Adams/CNET

The whole thing happens in real time, so you can't sit and play all at once -- you schedule a few stops, leave for the day, check your progress, schedule a few more when you get home that night, and so on. Orrrr you could keep checking on your rover's progress every hour. Season 1 of the game is supposed to take a month to play, though I finished it in two weeks. I'm a little obsessive? The time delays sound frustrating, but I found they contributed to the illusion of controlling a rover far away in space, and they mean this is a game you can play while busy with other things.

Despite the minimal time investment, maybe this tweet gives some idea of the hold the game can get on your imagination:

Nerdishly exciting seasons 2 and 3 are planned -- including topographical maps showing your rover's elevation levels -- but the company needs some financial support to get them delivered, so now's a good time to check out the game, and the Kickstarter for Season 2. Upgrading your Season 1 rover is a perk of the lower level of pledges, and if you go into the really high numbers you get to do things like name a species in S2 or even appear as a character in the game.

Even I'm not that obsessive, but again, Season 1 is free, and -- to repeat what I said on our space-themed CraveCast in August -- I'd recommend Extrasolar to anyone who likes space, maps, remote-control toys, pretty pictures, conspiracy theories, epistolatory narratives, speculative biology, and anything that lets you feel smart while still being kind of lazy with a short attention span. You may find yourself walking down the street mentally tagging squirrels.